Clark County Woman Sentenced for Wire Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A Winchester, Ky., woman, Irene Fike, 56, was sentenced to 36 months on Wednesday, by U.S. District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove, following her convictions for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

From 2016 to 2021, Fike was employed by an accounting firm in Winchester, where she had access to financial information belonging to the victim and performed bookkeeping tasks for the victim. According to her plea agreement, in the fall of 2021, Fike left her employment at the accounting firm and the victim hired her as an independent contractor to assist with paying bills, creating and updating financial records, general bookkeeping, and other matters. She also had access to the victim's bank accounts.

As part of Fike's scheme, from April 2018 until September 2022, she defrauded the victim through the unauthorized use of the victim's credit cards and bank accounts to benefit herself. In total, Fike used $224,349.93 in the victim's funds to pay her personal credit card. Additionally, she used the victim's credit cards to make various online purchases totaling $139,307.74. To conceal her fraud, Fike misrepresented the expenditures and debits on financial reports to avoid raising the suspicions of the victim and family.

As part of her sentence, Fike was ordered to pay $405,867.08 in restitution to the victim.

Under federal law, Fike must serve 85 percent of her prison sentence. Upon her release from prison, she will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for three years.

Carlton S. Shier, IV, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Michael Stansbury, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Louisville Field Office, jointly announced the sentence.

The case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amanda Huang and Andy Boone prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

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